People in Medway love a good thriller, with that type of book proving the most popular at libraries across the Towns.

In the wake of World Book Day the Medway Messenger can reveal that it was subterfuge, violence and mystery which drew in readers over the past year.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child was the most borrowed book between April 2013 and March 2014.

It is the 17th title in the Jack Reacher series and focuses on the ex-military cop turned hobo who hitches a ride with a group of murderers.

With conspiracies galore the book, which won the 2013 Thriller and Crime Novel of the Year by the National Book Awards, was out on loan 90% of the time during the year.

Meanwhile the author whose books were borrowed the most overall was fellow thriller writer, James Patterson.

But when people are not getting their crime kicks it seems comedy is the second most popular avenue, with Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart coming top as the favourite adult non-fiction title.

The autobiography of the much-loved comedian, and star of her own BBC show, was on loan 63% of the time.

Overall, fiction post 1945, crime, adventure and romance were the go-to genres.

While books about fairies and a series on a boy who can’t seem to stay of out trouble, topped the children’s favourites.

Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney is the sixth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and was the fastest selling book of 2011 as well as the most borrowed children’s book in Medway over the last 12 months.

It focuses on Greg, a lad who is prime suspect in a mystery of damaged school property, who also has to face the worst thing ever for a teenager – being trapped indoors with his family for days thanks to a blizzard.

The most popular children’s author proved to be one that doesn’t really exist.

Rainbow Magic is a series of books written by Daisy Meadows and features differing groups of fairies as main characters, including the Jewel fairies, Weather fairies and Sporty fairies.

But Daisy Meadows is a pseudonym used for the series’ four writers – Narinder Dhami, Sue Bentley, Linda Chapman and Sue Mongredien.

Ever-popular dinosaurs topped the non-fiction chart with Marie Greenwood’s Amazing Giant Dinosaurs on loan 66% of the time.

Firefight by Chris Ryan and Never Forget by Lisa Cutts were the top borrowed eBooks over the year.